GA Studies Project 3 - Page Text Content

2: Vasco de Balboa Expeditions: 1500- 1513 Vasco de Balboa was a Spanish conquistador. In 1500, he explored the east coast of modern Colombia and settled in Hispaniola. After being forced to flee, he joined an expedition to assist a colony in Columbia. He and the settlers moved across the Gulf of Uraba to Darien, where they founded the first stable settlement in South America. In 1513 he became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean and took possession of the Mar del Sur and nearby lands for Spain.

3: Juan Ponce de Leon Expeditions: 1513-1514 Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer, colonized Puerto Rico and founded a settlement near modern San Juan. Rumors of a fountain of youth in the Bahamas motivated him to lead an expedition in 1513, but he landed instead in the northern coast of Florida near modern St. Augustine. He sailed along Florida's southern and western coasts, then returned to Spain to claim the title of military governor.

4: Jacques Cartier Expeditions: 1534-1542 Jacques Cartier was a French navigator who made three voyages for France to North American between 1534 and 1542. He was appointed by Francis I to explore North America ti try ti find a passage to the Pacific Ocean. On his first voyage he reached Newfoundland in 20 days, sighted the Magdalen Islands and Prince Edward island and found the St. Lawrence River. He made a second voyage in 1535 and explored the St. Lawrence up to what is now Montreal. On the third voyage he, Cartier was under the command of Jean-Francois de la Rocque de Roberval and part of an unsuccessful attempt to colonize the area.

5: Sir John Hawkins Expeditions: 1562-1569 Sir John Hawkins was an English naval commander. He became a merchant in the African trade and the first English slave trader. After a successful slave-trading voyage in 1562-1563, a group, that included Elizabeth I, provided money for a second expedition. A Spanish fleet attacked him on his third voyage, which began the quarrel between England and Spain that led to war in 1585.

6: Martin Frobisher Expeditions: 1576-1585 Martin Frobisher was an English navigator and explorer of Canada's northeastern coast. Searching for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, he crossed the Atlantic in 1576 and reached Labrador and Baffin Island, discovering Frobisher Bay. When he returned to England with reports of possible gold mines, he received royal backing for further expeditions in 1577 and 1578. He brought back nothing of value and his royal backing was taken away. In 1585 he sailed as vice admiral of Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies, and in 1588 he played an important part in the campaign against the Spanish Armada.

7: Robert LaSalle Expeditions:1669-1687 Robert LaSalle led his first expedition in 1669. He reached the Ohio River and followed it downstream as far as modern Louisville, Kentucky. It wasn't until 1672 that he explored the upper Mississippi River. LaSalle later participated in an expedition to follow the northern shore of Lake Erie t Michilimackinac. He and his men went to what is now known as Sault Ste. Marie to establish a mission with the Potawatomi, but they were unsuccessful.